The World According to Chloe

"Mom, I want to be a teacher when I grow up," said Chloe.

"That's great! A teacher, just like your Mom!" I replied.

"No, not like you. I figure it would be an easy job because I already know everything there is to know", she responded.


-- Post From My iPhone

Photos of Our Trip to Big D

Chloe's school Spring Break was the week of Easter and was originally supposed to be a total of 7 school days off. After the winter break in February I decided to take Oliver and Chloe to Dallas to see my parent's and family for the break. We were gone a total of 12 days, April 1-12. In the end, Chloe's spring break was shortened to 5 days because of the nor'easter that caused power outages and shut down school for two days. I didn't change our trips plans--Chloe was supposed to miss only one day of school, but in the end she missed three. There went her perfect attendance!

Here's what we did in Dallas--

Fishing on PaPaw's farm. We all went to my Dad's farm. Chloe and PaPaw stayed on the farm while Aunt Deanna, BeBe, Oliver and I went to Canton--"the world's largest flea market", which is just down the road from my Dad's farm.

Dyed Easter Eggs. Those are PaPaw's hen's eggs which Chloe dyed.

Hunted Easter Eggs. Chloe found an egg with $5 inside and got lots and lots of candy.

Posed for photos. BeBe & Oliver by some cattle sculptures.

Chloe riding the cattle. We didn't get any photos in the bluebonnets. Next year, I hope to book a professional session while we are in Dallas and get nice photos of Chloe and Oliver in the fields of bluebonnets.

Played. Chloe gots lots of play time in. She and PaPaw played house, lacrosse, etc. Chloe is sliding down a giant slide at a local children's play center in this photo.

Oliver enjoying the mashed potatoes at dinner.

Went to the Dallas Arboreteum. Spring is the big tulip display and I got some great photos of Oliver and Chloe.

I love this photo because I think it captures the kids personalities so well.

PaPaw and Oliver at the Arboreteum.

Three Months Home

Oliver has been home for three months now. We first held him in our arms on Sunday, January 3, 2010 and returned home as a family of four on Saturday, January 9, 2010. The three months has gone by so quickly. I was totally caught off-guard by our three-month post-placement visit, which we had on March 16. I couldn't believe it was time to already submit our first post-placement report!

We are settling in to life with two kids. Chloe really likes her brother and she makes him smile. She made a piece of pottery at school in art and she wanted to make it for Oliver. She wrote his name on her piece.

Oliver is army-crawling and sits on his own. He still has no teeth, but we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of some any day now. He chatters all day and waves "hello" and will sometimes give Mommy a kiss if requested. Usually Oliver is all smiles. He's got the best toothless grin! He is a flirt and the women adore him. He loves the dogs, especially Flash.

We take Oliver to see the international adoption pediatrician in a few weeks. I will be curious what her second assessment will be and to hear her take on how far he has come in his development. Our regular pediatrician is so impressed by him and how far he has come developmentally.

The Arboretum

When in Dallas, we always visit the Dallas Arboretum. Matt and I were married at the Arboretum a few years back. My Dad and I took Chloe and Oliver to the Arboretum today. Chloe wanted to see where Mommy & Daddy got married---even though she has seen it before (I guess she doesn't remember that she celebrated her first birthday at the Arboretum).

A note to anyone visiting Dallas in the Spring---beware of school field trips. I taught school in the Dallas area for 7 years and now I am on the "other side". I apologize to anyone run over at the Dallas Zoo by one of my school children. We have not been able to escape the hoards of young children overtaking every major Dallas attraction we have attended this week. To make matters worse, it also appears there is NO objective to their field trip---in other words, we didn't see any learning going on, just kids running rampant and wild.

Happy Easter!!

Oliver's Nine Month Well-Check

Oliver, the baby, and Flash, the puppy (yes, that IS a puppy. He's 10 months old--one month older than Oliver). Yes, yes, we have a puppy and a baby. Probably NOT the best or most thought-out decision ever, but Flash is great with Oliver. Very gentle and calm. Oliver and Flash are the best of pals. Oliver made away with one of Chloe's markers and was determined to feed it to Flash along with one of his socks. Flash declined the marker but accepted the sock.


Oliver went to the pediatrician today for his 9-month well-check. Our pediatrician is so impressed with Oliver and how far he has come since he came home in January. He didn't have to have any repeat vaccinations and it appears that his asthma is under control as he has not needed his nebulizer since last month.

In two and a half months, Oliver has grown 1.75 inches, and gained 3.5 pounds. Oliver jumped from the 5th percentile in weight and height to the 20th percentile. Our pediatrician doesn't quote the growth chart for us, especially since the three pediatrician's (one specialist and our two regular pediatricians) all believe that Oliver was a premie. Eventhough we aren't going by the growth chart, I still look to it for reference. He still has his reflux (he spits up A LOT) but he should grow out of it. Oliver got a clean bill of health and a big thumbs up from the pediatrician!

A Visit to the School Nurse

Chloe got her first visit to the school nurse today. She took a fall on the way into school. She was racing a friend into the building. The nurse cleaned her scrape and gave her a band aid. She was very brave.




I was not there for the fall. The friend's mom offered to walk Chloe and her daughter into school. It was raining and I didn't want to take Oliver out of the car. So, I was not present for the fall. The mom called me to let me know Chloe fell and was ok.

After school I took Chloe for ice cream to make it all better. We were going to go here (because it is FREE ice cream day today)...

but the line was long and it was raining.




So we went here instead--



Ice cream makes everything better.




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A New Bike

Chloe outgrew her old training bike and with the beautiful and warm weather we had this weekend, we were inspired to go bike shopping. Three bike shops later, Chloe decided on this bike.

Easter Celebration

Our Newcomer's Club held their annual Easter egg hunt and party on Saturday. Chloe enjoyed playing with her friends and hunting Easter eggs.

Oliver enjoyed taking in the sights, chewing on a bagel and meeting the Easter Bunny for the very first time!

Nine Months Old Today

and what a beautiful day it was!! The storm fromt he weekend seems like a distant memory with the sunny, beautiful weather---except for the downed power lines and fallen trees littering the place!

Chloe was out of school and we went with Nana to the park (my mom went home this morning). Oliver got to try out the swings and he loved it. He is nine months old today!

Tonight we have our 3-month post-placement visit with our social worker. Time flies.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Today is Matt's birthday. Chloe and I made him a cake and we presented him with a shirt he had wanted since he saw it on Brian in Ethiopia. Matt's mother and my mother were also on hand to help celebrate.

Happy Birthday Matt!!

Oliver's Christening (a.k.a The Night the Lights Went Out in NJ)

Electricity. It's a good thing. It really comes in handy to heat water for showers, cook food (and light gas ovens) and for heating homes. We all got to appreciate electricity this weekend as we went 24 hours without it.  A huge Nor'easter blew through the area on Saturday causing rain and high winds. We had just had massive snow fall a  few weeks before and the snow was melting, saturating the ground. The rain caused even more saturation and the combo of the wind and saturated ground caused trees to topple over onto houses and power lines. Our entire town went black and for the most part so did our entire county.

Our power went out on Saturday evening just as we finished preparations for Oliver's Christening on Sunday morning. Our friend, Sue, had planned some great food for the gathering at our house and it was in the refrigerator waiting to be cooked and served.

Sunday morning, when the sun arose, we could see the carnage the storm left behind. Downed power lines and toppled trees. We dressed and went to the church for the service and Christening. Lights out. We were given the option of rescheduling the Christening but I informed our pastor that my mother-in-law had flown in from England for the event, my mom had come from Dallas, a godfather from Virgina and another godfather from Dallas. He got the point that we weren't rescheduling and we gathered with our other church members in our chapel. Unfortunately the main sanctuary could not be used because of the lack of light from the stained glass windows. As our pastor said, it makes for a memorable Christening for Oliver.

After the service, friends and family gathered in our home sans electricity. Sue, the fabulous cook used our gas range to prepare some of the foods we had planned to serve. In the end, it was a great time with good food. Who needs electricity!!??

Oliver with his Godfather's Bryan and Tom.

The one photo that turned out of the Christening. (It was too dark for many of the photos to be seen)

FYI: Our power did return on Sunday evening. We had been told to expect Monday evening or Tuesday afternoon for the power to return. As of Wednesday, some in our town are still without power. Schools were closed Monday and Tuesday.

Sun!!

The sun came out today and brought some warmth so we walked into town and got some ice cream.

Catching Up

Oliver is doing much better. We're back on schedule and all is well.

This weekend Oliver had his first swim. We've gone a little stir crazy with our winter weather ( i.e. Lots and lots of snow) so we decided to take advantage of the family swim at our local gym.

Sunday we met a friend and his son for skiing. Oliver and I chilled at the ski lodge.


Oliver in his carrier/car seat---where he spends a large majority of his time on our busy Mondays.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Poor Boy

We've all had some crud going around but Oliver got the worst of it. We took him to the pediatrician on Saturday and then the ER on Sunday. He's doing much better now.



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Happy Valentine's Day

We went skiing in the Catskills today. We told Chloe we were going skiing on Saturday and the excitement was a but much for her to contain. She woke at 3 a.m. to come into our room and wake Matt to tell him how one should "carve" in order to go down a steep mountain. She was then awake again around 5:30 a.m. wanting to know when we were leaving.

The drive to the ski resort was 2+ hours. Both kids did great.

Oliver and I remained in the ski lodge and Chloe and Matt hit the slopes. Oliver worked the ski lodge in his snow booties and "Heartbreaker" onesie. All the women were putty in his hands until he spit up 7 times on me. The smell of regurgitated formula isn't very charming, but he's still learning. It doesn't seem to stop the ladies.

The ski resort was packed for the President's Day weekend and after a  trek to park the car, Chloe and Matt finally hit the slopes. Apparently Chloe had a fall on the first run and was ready to call it a day. Of course, after a 2 hour car ride and expensive lift tickets, we weren't going to let her quit. It took a purchase of a pack of Star*bursts candy and the promise she could have it when she went skiing to get her back out there.

Chloe loves to ski with her Dad. Matt is a very good instructor with her. The only thing Chloe seemed to complain about was that her ski boots were too tight (Of course, that would have been helpful to know when she got fit for them two months ago). Together they hit the slopes for 2 more hours before we called it a day.

Lots of Fun in the Snow

We got about 12 inches total in snowfall. Chloe had a friend over for a playdate and they played for hours in the snow. Matt and Chloe had cleared the walk and drive and made a snow mountain. It provided lots of entertainment as Chloe and her friend used it to sled.